大革命之前法国的财税政策及指导思想：

Ironically, the vogue of physiocratic thought in France in the eighteenth century, which emphasized agriculture as the source of all wealth, actually undermined the French tax system. For the monarchy could have solved its financial problems if it had been able to raise taxes on commerce and manufacturing. This sector was growing fast enough to support the needed taxes.

明末/奥斯曼帝国的财政危机机理：

In summary, the growing inadequacy of tax revenues in both China and the Ottoman Empire undermined these states' ability to support their armed forces. Moreover, efforts to close the gap between costs and revenues in the short term led to corruption and attempts to collect tax "surcharges" that antagonized all social groups. The outcome was a political crisis rooted in fiscal bankruptcy. This crisis was not due to overtaxation relative to the available resources of the society. In fact, the government's share of national wealth diminished. Rather, the crisis was due to an overall undertaxation as inflexible land-tax systems failed to capture growing output and tax evasion became increasingly common among influential elites.

【 在 bearn (秉烛堂主) 的大作中提到: 】
: 这书发表于1990年，当时作者根据历史经验提出一个论断：
: 帝国凡是依靠发债都要完蛋，依靠税收才会持续，
: 并据此吐槽了当时的里根政府，预言美帝如果靠发债这样下去必然完蛋。。。
: ...................
--
FROM 180.89.85.*